It was a week of dramatic comeback victories, heartbreaking losses and also runaway wins as the SEC hierarchy continued to separate out from the rest of college football's strongest conference in the Week 10 SEC Power Rankings
A week ago, there were seven zero or one-loss SEC teams. That number is down to five this week as one-loss Oklahoma and Missouri went down to defeats on Saturday.
Texas A&M extended its unbeaten streak to eight games over the weekend with a dominant 49-25 thrashing of LSU that cost Tiger head coach Brian Kelly his job. The Aggies are making a strong case as the best team in the SEC, but still sit behind one-loss Alabama, which escaped by the skin of its teeth against South Carolina on Saturday.
Down 22-14 early in the fourth quarter, the Crimson Tide rallied with the help of their defense to score 15 unanswered points in the final 10 minutes, with the winning score coming on a 25-yard touchdown run with just 34 seconds remaining and the score tied at 22.
Georgia was idle ahead of its annual rivalry showdown with Florida this week and stayed put in the three spot behind Bama and Texas A&M. Most all of the movement in this week's power rankings is confined between No. 4 and No. 9, and a switch of places at the bottom of the conference.
Week 10 SEC Football Power Rankings
1. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-1, 5-0)
Alabama maintained its hold on the top spot, rallying late to escape an upset bid by South Carolina on Saturday. The Tide has the week off, one of four SEC teams that are idle this weekend, before a home date the following weekend against a struggling LSU team that is now also without its head coach. Alabama stays at home the week after the LSU game for a showdown against Oklahoma.
Previous rank: 1
No. 2 Texas A&M (8-0, 5-0)
Texas A&M and Alabama have clearly begun to separate themselves at the top of the SEC. Both teams are unbeaten in conference play. The Aggies and Crimson Tide are presently on a collision course to face each other in the SEC Championship Game. Neither face each other during the regular season, so the only head-to-head meeting this season would have to be in that conference championship game. A&M is idle this week. The Aggies' next game is Nov. 8 at Missouri.
Previous rank: 2
3. Georgia Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1)
Georgia returns to action this weekend on the road at Florida. The remaining schedule sets up nicely for the Bulldogs, the two toughest games being a home game against Texas and a regular-season finale against No. 8 Georgia Tech. Georgia is still a dangerous team -- and with arguably the best quarterback in the SEC -- and very much in contention to play for the conference championship should Bama or the Aggies falter along the way.
Previous rank: 3
4. Ole Miss Rebels (7-1, 4-1)
Ole Miss picked up a huge quality win on the road, beating Oklahoma in Norman on Saturday. With just one conference loss against Georgia a week ago and just three straight home games coming up against South Carolina, The Citadel and Florida and no ranked teams remaining on the schedule, look out for Ole Miss climbing up the ladder should chaos occur above it in the standings.
Previous rank: 5
5. Vanderbilt Commodores (7-1, 3-1)
Vanderbilt is on pace for its winningest football season since 2011 and '12 when the Commodores won nine games. The Dores managed to hold off Missouri over the weekend, but they have a difficult challenge coming up this weekend with a game at Texas, which could be without quarterback Arch Manning, who is in concussion protocol. After Saturday, games with Auburn, Kentucky and Tennessee are what remain, and Auburn and Kentucky are both at home in Nashville. The bottom line is that this Vanderbilt team is in good position to finish in the upper third of the SEC this season.
Previous rank: 4
6. Tennessee Volunteers (6-2, 3-2)
Former Oklahoma offensive coordinator and quarterback of the 2000 OU national championship team and now Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel awaits the Sooners on Saturday. The Vols are coming off a 56-34 beatdown of Kentucky in Lexington and have the best offensive team in the SEC. But they also have one of the two worst defensive units in the conference.
Tennessee will be favored in at least three of its final four games and could easily end up with a nine- and even a 10-win regular season, which could put Heupel's team in the running for a place in the College Football Playoff.
Previous rank: 8
7. Texas Longhorns (6-2, 3-1)
Down 38-21 in the fourth quarter at Mississippi State on Saturday, Texas scored 17 unanswered points, including a 79-yard punt return by the same player, Ryan Niblett, who incidentally took a punt to the house against Oklahoma, to tie the game and send it to overtime. The Longhorns managed to prevail in overtime, even without quarterback Arch Manning, who left the game in the OT session with an apparent concussion. A third loss would have been disastrous for a Longhorn team that was preseason No. 1 nationally. Texas continues to look highly vulnerable, and its next two games are against Vanderbilt at home this weekend and at Georgia on Nov. 15.
Previous rank: 9
8. Missouri Tigers (6-2, 2-2)
Missouri lost starting quarterback Beau Pribula to a lower leg injury in the loss on Saturday at Vanderbilt. He could miss a few games, if not for the rest of the season, which could be a problem for a Tiger offense that ranks No. 4 in the conference. Missouri is off this weekend, but has games remaining at home against Texas A&M and Mississippi State and on the road at Oklahoma and Arkansas. The direction of Missouri's season going forward is going to largely depend on the availability of its starting QB.
Previous rank: 6
9. Oklahoma Sooners (6-2, 2-2)
Oklahoma managed to beat itself in a number of ways in a 34-26 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday. The task moving forward is equally daunting as the Sooners head to Knoxville this weekend to take on Tennessee, the best offensive team in the conference.
OU had trouble defensively holding down an Ole Miss offense that ranked third in the SEC and that was at home. Saturday's game is away from Norman in one of the loudest and toughest places to play in the country. And it doesn't get any easier after that. Oklahoma's final three games in the regular season are at home against Missouri, at Alabama and at home in the season finale against LSU.
Previous rank: 7
10. LSU Tigers (5-3, 2-3)
The LSU season has turned into a dumpster fire. The Tigers fired head coach Brian Kelly after a 49-25 embarrassment at home against Texas A&M. How the team responds from this is anyone's guess.
Fortunately, LSU gets a short reprieve with a week off before having to face Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 8. That's followed by back-to-back home games against Arkansas and Western Kentucky before closing out the regular season at Oklahoma. Two weeks ago, LSU was at No. 5 in the SEC Power Rankings.
Previous rank: 10
11. Florida Gators (3-4, 2-2)
The Gators are one of three SEC teams in search of a new head coach. Billy Napier was fired two weeks ago after a 23-21 win over Mississippi State, but it was a 34-17 loss at Texas A&M the week before that sealed his fate. Florida returns to action this weekend after a bye week for its annual rivalry showdown against Georgia in Jacksonville, Florida. The Gators finish up the season at Kentucky, at Ole Miss, vs. Tennessee and in-state rival Florida State.
Previous rank: 11
12. Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-4, 0-4)
Mississippi State has had the hardest luck of any SEC team this season. The Bulldogs lost by seven points to Tennessee, by two points to Florida and went to overtime this past weekend against Texas before losing by seven. They have not won a conference game in two seasons under head coach and former Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby and are just 1-19 against SEC opponents in the last three seasons.
This could be the week that Mississippi State breaks that long winless string, traveling to play at Arkansas, which like the Bulldogs, is looking for its first conference win of 2025. Mississippi State did beat then-No. 12 Arizona State earlier in the season and has already doubled its win total from last season with four 2025 wins. The schedule gets much tougher after Saturday with Georgia, Missouri and the Egg Bowl against Ole Miss to close out the regular season. The games with Georgia and Ole Miss are in Starkville.
Previous rank: 12
13. South Carolina Gamecocks (3-5, 1-5)
South Carolina and quarterback LaNorris Sellers looked much better against Alabama on Saturday than it did the week before in losing to Oklahoma. The Gamecocks were not able to finish out a 22-14 fourth-quarter lead against Alabama, however, and ended up losing by seven. Next up are back-to-back away games at Ole Miss and Texas A&M. Immediate future doesn't look promising for the Gamecocks.
Previous rank: 13
14. Auburn Tigers (4-4, 1-4)
Auburn finally broke through and won its first conference game of the season, defeating Arkansas 33-24 in come-from-behind fashion. Kentucky, at Vanderbilt, Mercer and the Iron Bowl rivalry game with Alabama round out the Tigers' schedule.
Previous rank: 14
15. Arkansas Razorbacks (2-6, 0-4)
Arkansas and Kentucky have been battling back and forth the past several weeks for the final two spots in the power rankings. This week, it's Arkansas' turn to step out of the cellar. Three of the Razorbacks' four conference losses are to Ole Miss (by six points), and to Tennessee and Texas A&M (both by three points). The Hogs host Mississippi Sate this weekend and have games against LSU, Texas and Missouri after that. Only Texas is away from Fayetteville.
Previous rank: 16
16. Kentucky Wildcats (2-5, 0-5)
Kentucky is back in the SEC basement after a 56-34 drubbing at home by Tennessee over the weekend. Only three conference games remain on the schedule: at Auburn this weekend, at home against Florida on Nov. 8 and at Vanderbilt on Nov. 22. Auburn and Florida appear to be Kentucky's best chances of not going winless in the conference for 2025. The Wildcats close out the regular season with rival Louisville on Nov. 29.
Previous rank: 15